A comprehensive guide to Noctees society
by SIMIOCAOS
Summary: Commonly referred as the Night Princess' Night Guard, the contributions to the field of magic, architecture, and military, to say a few, of this people are only rivaled to those of their mysterious past, and bearish attitude towards other races. Therefore, what is known about Noctees customs and overall society will be explained with as much detail as possible.
1. Introduction, Overview and History

Well, I'm here again, trying to make a project that doesn't take so long, and that, hopefully, could show my improvement as to what my writing skills have achieved in english.

Cross your fingers! :D

If you're reading this little author's note, know that the following work is intended to be reference material for future projects, and that the original objective of it was to make it my headcanon. What happened after is that I… took off.

Anyway, if you still want to read it, you're most welcomed, and if you want to review it, to let me know what do you think about it, then I'll be glad to know.

From now on enjoy.

Sincerely: SIMOCAOS

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**Acknowledgements:**

Thyrisom - For having made such an excellent work with your Changeling comprehensive guide.

ToranadoandTwilight - For lending me part of your wonderful universe, I hope I've put it to good use.

AlphaTheGriffin17 - For being cool (I know, I'm obsessive, but still thank you).

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_"Our Elders, grown beyond the wildest dreams of kin, it's known, were first to reach the heavens, above all the world below. By steel and wood, by sweat and blood, on wings made of pure light, they slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of Gods. But knowing times of trouble, and the devils they may bring, are only thwarted by the will to fight, we raised our mighty wings. Prepared for war, thus guarding peace; for the goddess, our love, we shall deliver unto evil: death, dealt swiftly from above"_ - Ancient oath of the Night Guard.

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**Overview**

For more than many races can remember, the Noctees can be, easily, the oldest by far to have ever inhabited the world, even beyond the known land of Equestria. Despite the image of the actual Night Princess' Night Guard that this race has given to the general populace, in fact the contributions to the field of magic, architecture, and military, to say a few, of this people are only rivaled to those of their mysterious past, and overall bearish attitude towards other races, making them, if not almost impossible, very difficult to study.

For this and many more, one could say that the Noctees are indeed a race both infinitely more wise and old than that recollection of most of the nowadays peoples. Therefore, in the following descriptions, what is known about Noctees customs and overall society will be explained with as much detail as possible from all the available sources that have had, or supposed to have, contact with them.

**History**

The history of the Noctees is perhaps the oldest there is, finding its origins in the eras prior to the Crystal Empire's formation and the colonizing of Equestria as well (although how far before it goes in the past is subject to speculation), and is only referred in Changeling tales and Griffon legends as the Sagas from the Old Night. So, the study of the race's oldest eras, even performed by all the secondary sources available, since the Noctees per se are always reluctant to show their history to foreigners, is an endeavor that has only casted poor and fragmentary results. As such, whats known of the oldest ages of the Noctees, due to lack of information, has been discarded.

What can be assumed for sure is that the race that actually roams the world resembles little to its most preterite ancestors. It is not known why, or how, but the more likely theory states that many ages ago the Noctees used to live over the phase of the earth and not beneath, as they do now, until some sort of unknown cataclysm, only referred as The Fall of the Bloodline, came to happen, which shattered their entire civilization and forced them away from the surface. What came to pass when this sort of mysterious conflict or natural event occurred is completely ignored, and Noctees wouldn't speak about it under any circumstances. So terrible it could have been, or so scarred it left their race that its mourning seems to last to this day.

Changelings records, on the other side, bring a dim vision about what it used to be the old Noctees society. Although many of them vary in an infinite of details, all coincide that there was a time when the Changelings were enslaved by Noctees, some say right after what came to be known as The Wrath of Punishment (perhaps another representation of The Fall of the Bloodline), and because of their hive mentality were forced to build their Covens until they eventually, tired of the abuse, rebelled. The subsequent conflict is told differently by every hive and colony, but all versions coincide that in the end Changelings were granted their freedom by the Noctees, lead by one Nightmancer in particular. Despite the names and references differ as much as ways of telling the story are, the name of Dreadwing keeps showing up in most them, so he is been officially acknowledged as the one who is unilaterally called The Deliverer in every version.

Moving forward, from that point on, almost no data about what changes befell in Noctees society outside of the restricted Equestrian Coven's archives can be found. What can be known about further in time is the interaction between ancient ponies and Noctees, which comprises all what little survives within the Crystal Empire's archives. Inside those endlessly times rewritten pages of old hoofscripts lies record about contact between the Noctees and ponykind.

Despite the possibility that some of the details could have been modified to fit in more resumed, less detailed versions of the story, what is a constant is that when the Crystal Empire was in its greatest might, the Noctees waged war against it for unknown reasons, causing a millenary conflict between both races that ended in both the fall of the overall Crystal Empire, and the destruction of most of the older covens that used to be settled in Equestria.

Changelings played an important role in this period time too, as they were, as said by the Crystal Empire historians, instrumental in the ultimate fall of both the empire and the Noctees, and, in a way, referred to be a catalyst of the conflict. The way they accelerated the development of the conflict was because of their vastly numerical superiority, laying waste to both sides during the war and coming to claim huge tracks of land by defeating their two worn off rivals as they battled each other. Many can differ what could have happened if the war should have continued its course, but all agree that the Changeling invasion was, in fact, its turning point, for the shapeshifting creatures had claimed too many important places from both factions (amongst them the very capital of the Crystal Empire, where its present location is) and their alarming advance made both races reconsider their objectives in the conflict. In the end, and apparently unexpected by the Changelings, both races decided to set aside their differences and join forces against a common foe.

What followed was the defeating of the Changelings and the making of a non aggression pact between the ponies, who were mostly the Three Tribes' colonists and Northern Crystal Empire remnants, and the Noctees that, despite rare occasions, stands to the present time. The Changelings, having been endlessly cursed and beaten over the last years of the Pony-Noctees war, were almost entirely crushed as their biggest hives were completely destroyed by ponies and cursed by the Nightmancers so that they wouldn't breed in the vast numbers they had again. This curse in particular amongst others, and the resentment of ponykind towards them, made the Changelings race languish almost to the point of extinction over the next four thousand years, pushed to barbarism and chased as pests throughout the entire Middle Ages until the uprising of Equestria, a thousand years ago. Its worth to mention, though, that in recent centuries the spells that kept them from reproduce seem to have finally worn off, and the Changelings have being able to rebuild part of their civilization, although if they still pose a threat to the other species of the world as they did is left for another investigation to postulate (for further detail on Changelings read A Comprehensive Guide to Changeling Society).

Returning to the Noctees, after the finish of the war with ponykind both races shared a considerably respectful treatment for each other. Ancient reports of Umbras living with ponies fill most of the nowadays forgotten principalities that used to exist after the Crystal Empire's downfall, and even some sources used to comment about Shadow Guards being used as mercenaries or freelancers! Indeed, despite the Middle Ages being an overall turbulent time, both races used to share a bond of mutual respect and tolerance for each other, depicted in what little records survive from that age, but, sadly, it couldn't last.

**The Reign of Discord and the Founding of Equestria**

Due to the general mayhem of records that has come to be know as the Discord Era, the information about the Noctees people is scarce, poor documented, and, ind the best of cases, contradictory. It is only speculated as to how this race had been affected by the powers of the chaotic being in its awakening, but in spite of the events one of the most believable sources states that when Discord awoken the Nightmancers casted a colossal ranged spell that came to be known as the Dome, a magical cupola that came to replace the sky over Equestria, bringing our actual day cycles managed by the Princesses, in order to prevent his corruption to spread farther throughout the world.

The events that followed are well recorded as the Sisters' Uprising and the Founding of the Equestrian order that nowadays prevails. It is curious to mention, though, that there exist the slight possibility that the Royal Sister may have had Noctees aid in the defeating of Discord, and even that they used to have an allegiance with a Nightmancer family, but the actual archives about it have been systematically purged; none seemed to appear during the investigation, and to dig furthermore was expressively prohibited by royal authorities, contributing, if least, to the mystery of what happened in those early times of Equestria as well as the origins of the actual Equestrian Coven.

What can be known for certain is that from some point from the Founding of Equestria Nightmacners started to be demonized by the general folklore, coming to imply their diabolic nature and intentions, fallacies that have never been close to the actual truth, but that nevertheless found its way into the collective conscience and have remained there in the form of prejudices for over a thousand years.

About the Equestrian Coven Founding, official records state that when forming Equestria, the Sisters were addressed by a rouge Coven that had lost their Nightmancers during the Reign of Discord, and that they accepted to rule over the Umbras under the condition that they wouldn't turn on them any time in the future. Although this story seems plausible, and mostly because of the reticence of the authorities to give away information from the Coven in question, even their open resistance about interviewing Umbra people or actual Night Guards, how much of the Equestrian version is true remains a mystery perhaps to be dug in further researches.


	2. Umbra, Nightmancer and general biology

**Noctees' general Biology**

Beginning to describe the Noctees physiology requires to get rid of some assumptions about what they are in truth. Differently from the popular belief that the actual Princess of the Night's Shadow Guard represent the entire breed genotype of the species is an erred concept to say the least. Noctees' race, among others which they shares a common ancestry, presents a palpable difference between its breeds. For starters, and contrary to the actual idea, Noctees race subdivides in two different strains, just as ponies do with pegasus, unicorns and earth ponies. The first of them, and more characteristic for being the ones that always escort Princess Luna, are the Umbras. The second one, more commonly referred by ignorant's terms as bat ponies, are the Nightmancers, although, its worth to mention, the real appearance of these last is a good example that their race is far from being equine.

Despite the similitudes that mark the two races, which would make anyone think that both are actually related, in fact, the only thing that ponies and Noctees share in common is that both belong in the same taxonomic class. Other than that there is no appreciable difference in the comparison between a pony and a Noctees than with any other quadruped mammal.

Such differences lie, for example, in the regular diet of both species. While ponies are herbivore creatures, Umbras doesn't rely solely on vegetable products, as they are in truth omnivores, fact that is assumed to apply to the rest of the Noctees race. Although Umbras of the Shadow Guard have prohibited to eat meat of almost any kind, old stories tell that, long ago, before the founding of Equestria, Noctees used to have cattle rising practices, and even would consume the meat of other Noctees in times of conflict, as a sign of prevalence over their foes. Wether if their cattle customs, or even their cannibalistic traditions are still practiced by other Covens to the date is something that's ignored.

Another fact about their physiognomy is that Noctees in general have slit pupils rather than round ones, and despite having an outstanding far sight and depth perception, are very sensible to bright sources of light, as to know that any strong flash could render them temporary blind, mostly because of their night view innate capacity. They counter this during the day by wearing eye masks or eyeshades so they wouldn't be exposed to the sun directly.

Noctees' weak eyesight, nevertheless, is countered as well by their fine hearing ability. Having grown into an environment where sight is very few to relay with, Noctees have enhanced their perception by other means. A blinded Noctees may seem like crippled, but in truth his fighting capabilities are just slightly depleted, as they can still detect the position and shape of several objects only by sound resonance.

Smell is another thing that Noctees have highly developed, capable of tracking objects and beings only by their scent and, in rare cases, taste. Its highly probable that in ancient times the Noctees would be a predatory race, but what of that still remains in their actual society is subject to discussion.

All Noctees posses the capability to fly, but, unlike pegasus, their membrane wings give them, if not a comparable speed, a much higher maneuver capability, making them able to dodge and turn in ways an equine would only aspire to imitate. Their special kind of wings make them able to sense the wind currents with more ease, and thus adapt to fly more efficiently. Although because of the thin layer of skin that composes them they can be damaged very easily, the same kind of tissue has the property to regenerate faster than the average equine skin or bone, making a damaged Noctees more likely to be able to fly again after receiving an injury than a crippled pegasus. Besides, the number of blood vessels that run through their wings make them ideal for thermic maintenance as well as regulation of internal temperature.

Unions between Noctees and other species have being recorded, but, in the case of Nightmancers, since they tend to outlive their couples, they are not very common. Whenever there exists a crossbreed between species, often the Umbra's recessive genes will give way to either another member of the host race or, though its very uncommon, a Noctees. Hybridizations with another race is such a rare case that it only happens once every ten million unions. In the case of the Nightmancers mating with another race the union has always produced another Nightmancer as a result of their active genes (although its not known wether if their magic plays an important role in this or not).

**Umbra's physiology**

Umbras are the most common sight within the Coven's walls, and represent over the ninety percent of the Noctees population. Generally speaking, their physiognomy resembles much to that of a pony, with four legs, mane and tail, and cranial shape ad-hoc but in detail their genotype presents a more extended fur development and thicker to that of a pony, which, although can't be told by simple view, its most evidenced in their pointy-furry ears. Their denture presents a further development in their canines along with incisors and molars, which are useful to both chew fruits and reap meat, fruit of their possible carnivore past.

In terms of bulkiness, Umbras are physically stronger than the average pegasus, but not as to be compared with the toughness of an earth pony. The developed muscles of the legs and wings, along with the capacity to maneuver more accurately than their equines counterparts puts them in a very valanced position amidst the three strains of ponies, making them reliable and versatile creatures with the capacity to adapt to a wide variety of environmental circumstances.

Despite Umbras don't have almost any magic capabilities, it has being discovered that they generate their own fields of raw energy, much like invisible magical auras that only the most skillful conjurers of both their kind and others can achieve to use. This magical essence appears with every Umbra in the moment of birth, and develops distinctively depending on the characteristic features of its host, reason why perhaps Umbras don't have cutie marks, since its theorized that they can perceive each other's auras. As well as their physical bodies develop, their auras continue to grow in strength until they "mature" completely. This happens usually in the last stages of adolescence, and it culturally marks the moment as to when an Umbra should pass his maturity trial. From this point on, this magical presence would aid the Umbra's organism as to keep him healthy, give him longevity, and bolster his healing and physic capabilities. The most accepted theory is that Nightmancers have the capacity to "harvest" the Umbra's raw power to cast their own spells, reason why they depend on their people as much as their people depends on them.

Their period of gestation can be from five to seven months, and cubs are able to fly on their own after a few months of being given birth. It takes six years until they reach physically self sustainability that renders them capable of living independently from their parents and would continue to develop until the age of twenty seven. It is not known how long the real life cycle of an Umbra extents without their magic, but recorded Umbras at the present time age over ninety years before passing away for natural causes, so it'll be assumed that Umbra people tend to live up ninety to ninety nine years on average.

**Nightmancer general biology**

Contrary to their commoners counterpart, the Nightmacners are the living proof that not only the Noctees are an older race than ponies, but, in overall capabilities, capable of greater physical potential and immeasurably powerful spell casting. Sadly, no Nightmancers were available as to study them directly, but, luckily, Van Stakesing's Guide to Paranormal Creatures offers a very large reference material to being with their physiological description.

Despite the fact that Nightmancers and umbras belong to the same species, its amazing how different their anatomies work in practice, even in resemblance. In pony terms a Nightmancer has more powerful inherently characteristics, perhaps due to the use of magic, than any of his fellow Umbras would ever hope to attain. This implies not only superequine strength, but also resilience and overall toughness. In means of magical potential, Nightmancers outstand even most of equines standards. Van Stakesing declares that a single Nightmancer, over time, is capable of casting spells that are not only terrible because of their effects, but for the incomputable amount of power that would require a normal unicorn, even perhaps an alicorn, to cast them. Comparing them in this aspect, even with equines, would be like putting an adult alicorn against any newborn unicorn.

Nightmancer's magic is something that has intrigued countless generations of investigators and researchers. Despite all the data about their strange conjuring rituals and magical powers that have being recorded, most sources conclude that Nightmancers doesn't generate enough raw power as to have the potential to bring up even an infinitesimal part of the actual caliber of the spells they have being recorded casting. To this its theorized that they may draw their energy from the Umbras that inhabit their Coven, since they generate a passive field of magic. How their wills can canalize the colossal amounts of raw power that they extract from their brethren breed is something that still puzzles scholars nowadays.

Basic Nightmacner magic tends to manage shapes and colors, providing them with different applications to use in a wide range of scenarios, from entertainment to puppet conjuring to combat spells. What the purpose is depends on the caster, but often these powers are used with extreme discreteness due to social and cultural implications, for a well trained Nightmancer should be able to tell wether the state of magic and even skills of another Nightmacner is only because of their conjuring stile, and, besides, casting these kind of spells very often without a specific purpose is typically seen as boasting or showing off, a practice that is not appreciated even in pony society.

It would be pointless to talk about Nightmancer's advance conjuring in this paper, for there is not the actual data or records enough to have being incorporated to the final research. What can be told about their most powerful spells is that they surpass by far the capabilities of those achieved to the date by ponykind, not only altering nature, but violating its course as well, although how much of this is truth remains unknown. What most legends of the only available Coven tell about them is that Nightmancers never casted them lightly, for their conjuring required very often the whole Coven to be involved in order to craft them, and, in some extreme cases, more than one Coven's population. What purpose could it have to gather such titanic amount of energy as well as its methods of conjuration is a secret that Nightmancers have kept hidden from the world for countless millennia, and despite there still remain some curious researchers, others encourage the youth not to dig into it.

Resuming, Nightmacner's powers may seem far superior to that of ponies, but, nevertheless, this kind of magic is not as stable as equines', for it is known that Nightmancer's powers lower, or straightly doesn't work during the day (perhaps a trait that helped earn them the name of Nightmancers). As a final fact about their magic nature, its worth to mention that there is not a single family, or perhaps Nightmancer, that has the same kind of magic, because, as stated earlier, this is a type of expression as to what is the identity of a family member, like cutie marks. Despite some resemblances between families, and particularities about individuals, each family's genotype has their own way of conjuring, which, aside from stating physical differences between members of other families, such as shared eyes, mane, fur and tale color, contributes to their characteristic style of raw power and magic.

The life cycle of a Nightmancer is another thing that puzzles academics, for it exceeds that of an Umbra by an undetermined amount of times, since there is no existing record of a Nightmancer's demise for natural causes. For starters, the birth rate of new Nightmancer strains is very unpredictable as to what refers to the forming of new families. When it doesn't happen by the union of the members of two different families, which often means that their offsprings will have mixed characteristics of both genotypes, the coming to life of a Nightmancer from Umbra's ancestry is very unlikely, and it is said that it has only happened a few hundreds of times in all of Noctees history. Its not that the potential forming of a new family doesn't bring joy to the overall race, but because it usually means culturally that a great tragedy is about to occur. Supposedly, Naqesis, the Noctees supreme goddess, is always foreseeing the future of the familiar dynasties, and whenever a whole family closes to an end, being by any means, she decides to start another with the unexpected birth of a Nightmancer among regular Umbras.

Hoof in hoof with this are the reproduction tendencies of the Nightmancers. It is said that it was because of a powerful curse that befell over the Nightmancers during the Fall of the Bloodline, but wether it has an evolutive meaning or not, the fact is that a Nightmancer can only choose a couple to reproduce with every one thousand years, being it another Nightmancer or not. Love is something that falls into this category, for it is said that Nightmancer's amorousness lasts the same time it takes for them to be able to copulate again, which also prevents them to find a new partner in the meantime to reproduce with.

Their gestation period lasts an entire year, or more if the female desires it, but newborn cubs are able to fly within days of being given bird and have an accelerated psychological growth during their very first stages of development, which tend to last for several years until it gives way to a more regularized pace of growing. A Nighmancer's physical, psychological, and even magical development from now on occurs at a pace so slow that it has made believe many studious that they don't actually age, and they multiply by other means of reproduction unknown to ponykind, but in truth, a thoroughly study about records that depict the elusive kind as well as their methods of breeding, reveals that this is far from the truth, and while Nightmancers seem to remain the same over time, in reality their development is so slow that it takes a Nightmancer cub over a thousand years to reach maturity!

Upon reaching full development its rare that a Nightmancer would physically age any further, and their metabolism remains unchanged for as long as they would live, making them as capable, both mentally and physically, as any pony in their thirties. From that point their physical appearance remains unchanged until their eventual decease by any means it may take shape.

There is not a way to kill a Nightmancer that has proven more effective than others, because, believe this, it has being looked upon and even tested by Middle Age ponies. As tough and resilient they may seem, any amount of physical damage that achieves to destabilize their body integrity, strikes to specific points, or even the injury of vital organs is usually enough to end their vital functions, as with ponies or most living organisms. Nevertheless the aspect where Nightmancers have an advantage compared to ponies is in their regeneration capacity. A Nightmancer is able to fully recover from even the most terrible of injuries within a few days as long as they remain alive and in a shadowed place. While doing so, they require to be in the most possible isolated environment, for when undergoing the process of healing it is said that they become hypersensitive to exterior stimuli, and even the lowest of noises can prove extremely unpleasant to their temporarily enhanced perceptions. Many foes have confused a Nightmancer's injuries with apparent decease just to be taken by surprise some time later by the same opponent they presumed dead. In general terms the apparent slumbering state of a healing Nightmancer resembles much to the act of hibernation, and joined with their hypersensibility is the belief that, when sleeping, Nightmancers tend to be more aggressive than usual, so disturbing them in the middle of their dream is not a good idea.

Nightmancer's metabolism is slower than most of other living beings, making them able to withstand longer periods of famine without any sort of nourishment, but requiring that every time they feed they do it in great quantities. So it is has been stated that a single Nightmancer could eat for at least ten ponies every time he feeds. Healing is another thing that further bolsters this monstrous appetite. Its commonly accepted that when a Nightmacner has ended his healing process he will be starving, and will have to consume great quantities of food in order to replace the carbohydrates that he lost while going through the process.

Aside from their physical needs, it's been discovered that Nightmancers rely on consuming magical raw power in a regular basis in order to keep their own active on the levels that they usually use, and, furthermore, remain alive. Despite the fact that Nightmancers generate their own magical auras, these seem to be insufficient to maintain them alive rather than their basic living functions. So, there seems to be an unknown connection between the amount of magic that a Nightmancer possesses and the level of activeness that he displays. Most of the time, Nightmancers have the auras of their Umbras to passively feed upon, but, when left in the open, Nightmancers must search for magical sources themselves, reason why they have being commonly represented as vampire ponies, feeding on magical power of unicorns when these are asleep. But despite this bad reputation that the general folklore has given them, in truth this is a practice that is only performed by their kind in most desperate times, or when they find themselves cut off of their Umbra's companions. This is why Nightmancers tend to have personal butlers or maidens that serve them exclusively during their lifetime, and even then its a charge that they'll pass to their offspring in order to never leave their lords unsupplied.

Supposedly, energy vampirism is a technique that requires a lot of self-control, since the absorption of magical power has a direct effect on the mood of Nightmancers, making them more anxious, and overfeeding could mean the death of the host, as well as the outbreak of a maniacal episode for the Nightmancer in question, events that, one way or another, have never ended well. In the contrary, when a Nightmancer has not fed by magic, and his reserves are running dangerously low, so low that his metabolism demands more than what he can naturally produce, their mood gradually becomes apathetic, presenting signs like alogia, dystimia, and gradual depression of body functions until their eventual cessation. Therefore it is known that not only restrain, but great control over the ingest of magic is required, for the more magic a Nightmancer drains at once, the more intense the downfall is going to be. Therefore its commonly accepted that if a Nightmancer would have excellent control over his diet he wouldn't need to vampirize other beings when left by his own.

**Nightmancer's pony physiology**

In pony form, a Nightmancer resembles much of an equine, but with characteristic features that can easily reveal his Noctees origin. Ears are larger than the average, and are highly sensitive to noise, capable of picking up sounds that for ponies would be even inaudible. They are characterized as well for having even longer canines, which is always portrayed as a distinctive feature when addressing them.

Although there are records that support the theory that Nightmancers could hide these evidential traits, curiously, the only one that always stays constant in their physical appearance, independently of the degree of disguising, are their wings.

Despite having the overall same shape, unlike the Umbras, Nightmancer's wings present a further development in the toughness and strength of their skin, almost to the point of being like tanned leather, making them far more powerful limbs that they would appear to be. They show a more marked finger thumb and a super dense bone structure wrapped around their second finger, which also can be seen as a jagged crest in the edge of their limb. This is because Nightmancers, unlike their brethren breed, often use their wings as a defensive method. Handled by the physical strength of a Nightmancer, this crest of bone can be swing with such a force and speed that it may as well have the cutting edge of a sword! Nightmancers often tend to take profit of this capacity by further sharpening their crests or use special designed sets of armor in order to enhance its offensive potential. They also train themselves to fence with these natural weapons, making them the first (and often the last) means of defense when the Nightmancer in question gets directly involved in a physical confrontation.

**Nightmancer's real physiology**

Wether if they hide it or not, the real physical aspect of a Nightmancer evinces the actual taxonomic distance from their species to ponykind. This also is why the Nightmancers have being addressed commonly as evil beings and described by Stakesing like one of the most dangerous creatures that has ever set flight in the world's skies.

In overall physiognomy a Nightmancer resembles much of a giant bat with the same general characteristics plus the ones that used to make him distinctive when turned into pony form, like oversized canines, and bone crests in the edge of his wings. These features are often added to some other more aggressive mechanisms of defense and attack, such as sharp fangs and talons capable of tearing through skin, flesh, bone, and even armor plates with the same ease. Their fur thickens and becomes a coarse hassock capable of deflecting most of physical strikes and even some light battle spells. The leather of their wings doesn't present further development in both consistence and use, but their bone crests grow comparably in size and sharpening.

They are able to still conjure in this form as well as any other, and though this is the shape by which they are born with, it is believed that during the first stages of their lives, mothers use to cast spells upon their cubs in order to give them pony form so they get use to be like this when they grow. This is because, socially, its not very well seen for a Nightmancer to assume his real form except in times of dire need or when his mental estate is affected (say, like during a manic episode). Culturally, it would be like being bare in public, something that, despite not having a great weight in pony society, is very penalized in other kinds of communities.

Over time, Nightmancers are able to retain their pony form even in their sleep, having gained some kind of unconscious control over their periods of transformation. This rule, nevertheless, doesn't apply to cases when extreme measures of magic are need, or when undergoing through a healing process.


	3. The Coven

**The Coven**

The main structure where all the Noctees reside is colloquially called Coven. In overall its a superstructure that resembles much of a pyramid where the main body of the city lies. Covens are usually excavated into mountains, and have multitudes of secret entrances, although statutorily they are supposed to have a main one, but that architectonic tradition has being lately set aside due to Noctees' actual relationships with Equestria.

Umbra's archives describe the way to make a standard construction of a Coven, but how accurately other Noctees may follow these is speculated. Its very likely that every Coven has defining characteristics, and while all follow the same pattern, there are differences between each one that makes them unique. The presence of watchtowers and forts is another thing that historically has varied from one Coven to another. Many used to have outer defensive structures comprising several fortresses and walls so that they could repel attacks both from beneath and above while others relied in the effectivity of their hideouts. Whatever the means, Covens have always been referred as formidable fortresses, capable to withstand frontal assaults and long periods of siege.

Many Covens follow an ascendant pyramidal structure, but in truth it is speculated that the orientation of the pinnacle, or even its actual shape, may vary depending on the natural conditions and the desire of the Nightmacner family in question. Nevertheless, since there was only Equestria's Coven to take as reference during the research, it is the one that is going to be analyzed, going by the assumption that, even if there may be other divergent Coven designs, this should be the standard that the Noctees have built over millennia.

A Coven is usually built inside the ground and into an elevated point, commonly a mountain. There, massive vaults stagger from the top to the bottom for as tall and wide as the very mountain is. These gigantically stretched rooms can tall to more than six hundred feet, and have a radius about several miles. In the case of the largest, these artificial caves can be so vast that one could not see the opposite wall if staring from its edge!

Due to the major part that flying takes in Noctees society, their architecture doesn't contemplate the construction of doorways or windows as it usually would. Instead, the proliferation of balconies and skylights is always present in the main structures of the buildings. All subjects can enter a regular building by either the main entrance or windows, as they actually serve the same purpose. The interior of these constructions is often the same as in equine's ones, save for the fact that most of them deploy pictures in stained glass and murals about different subjects depending on who have inhabited the building before, some even have private gardens with artificial creeks and ponds from which one can admire the growth of amazing displays of nature.

Across the interior of the halls lies the very city that breeds the entire population of Umbras. This metropolis would resemble much to those large cities of ponies, like Manehattan. Aqueducts run from the top of the mountain to the lowest of the levels, bringing the water from the snowmelt and redirected underground rivers, and are strategically displayed so they can handle possible eventualities, like floods or droughts. These powerful canals are always directed to the outside of the mountain from dams that generate their own rivers depending on what point they are released, or to large excavated caverns in order to create artificial water tables so they would act as reserves during the dry season.

Set in a regular distribution across the vaults, immensely column-shaped towers stand from the floor to the roof from which the light can be seen across their multitudes of windows. Unlike most of the buildings, these great towers are made from the living rock of the mountain, and they constitute a single piece shaped by its inhabitants to fit their necessities. These monolithic constructions far surpass everything made by ponies to the date, save for the Crystal Palace, in whats now known as the Crystal Empire, and constitute the spinal column of the whole Coven's superstructure.

The function of these columns, aside of serving as dwellings, is to power the nucleus of the Coven, as they are built around a core of superconductive material that carries the inherent magical power of the Coven's inhabitants towards a single devise known as the Compelling Orb, which is supposed to be the very heart of the city and the only thing that keeps it standing. This magical source of power also provides with illumination, and, in extreme cases in the most sophisticated Covens, automatized systems of defense, like hidden traps, golems or sentry towers that are intended to aid the Night Guards if someday they'd have to defend themselves or the city. What other uses may this mystical sphere have are only inferred, but it probably would also serve as to canalize all the energy of the Umbras into one conscious will, so that it may grant its master the ability to wield the power of thousands of magical beings to cast in a single spell. The fact that nopony, not even the Princess of the Night herself, has being able to handle this kind of untold power may be because of the phoniness of the theory or because the details about its proper handling are unknown. Whatever it is is subject to debate.

At the very center of the Coven halls lies an empty space that runs across all levels from top to bottom. This gigantic well is used as a main artery in order to displace great quantities of population with efficiency, so it may serve means of deploy or evacuation.

Because Every Coven has to host several thousands of individuals, sometimes during dry seasons, self sustainability is a requirement that has never slipped its builders. Surrounding every level of the pyramid, massive greenhouses store crops enough to feed the population, like belt-shaped farms that run on the power of the Compelling Orb to grow and be ever productive so that the Coven's inhabitants can feed even in times of poverty. Besides, every family in the Coven is free to cultivate their personal orchards, though these almost always go to storage, since most of the time the productivity of the communal farms is enough to maintain the general population, in order to ensure further sustainability.

Often at the top of the structure lies a specially designed building which holds the central management and the main temple of the city. Commonly referred as the Sanctorum, this place would hold the government and the sanctuaries that serve as places of worship to the whole Coven, and is the strongest guarded in the city, just to say that to enter this sacred place one should undergo meticulous security procedures, and even then the Night Guard wouldn't allow anyone to pass without a formal invitation. This is because this place is not only the headquarters to the Coven's government, but also houses the mysterious Compelling Orb, so allowing a visitor to enter is not only letting him know about the chiefs of the city, but also allowing him to reach the sole thing that sustains the Coven in its shape, and thus, exposing its bigger weak spot to a foreigner, something that equals to sacrilege to the Noctees.


	4. Culture, practices and life stages

**Noctees' General Culture**

Noctees daily life is something that has proven intriguing, not because its sophistication, but because how different the views of the Noctees are referring to matters like family and honor compared to those of ponies.

For any Noctees the Coven is what comes first. Be it Umbra or Nightmancer, both are willing to sacrifice their lives without thinking if their home should be in danger. The "needs of the many outweight the needs of the few" philosophy is so ingrained into their mentality that not only their views on life have developed to form a strong sentiment of commitment to their race, but their very society has evolved to serve the needs of their citizenship. In fact, it is amazing that this way of thought hasn't developed into chauvinism or fascism due to its tightness, but then again, resourcefulness is something that characterizes the mentality of the Noctees, and loosing any contact with the rest to the world clearly isn't something that is considered disposable in order to survive.

**Political Organization**

The conjunct of political leaders and representatives of the Coven's administration are addressed as the Night Council and associates, not only because these constitute the whole Coven's regimen implementers, but also because they take orders from the Nightmancer family in question, who are supposed to receive enlightening from their goddess herself in order to rule over their thousands of subjects with the most righteousness possible.

But this is addressing too little about Noctees political structure. If we part from the postulation that many Covens may have the same political arrangement as the Equestrian Coven, then we should start by addressing the lowest post in the scale, which to that we must take the gigantic column-like buildings as the smallest political division in every level of the city. Each one of these is ruled by a Brood Lord, who is charged to manage a small portion of the city and will only answer to the Chamber Administrator.

There are only two Chamber Administrators per level (or more depending on its extension), who must manage the activities of every Brood Lord in the best way they see fit and must report to the Night Councilor in person. Every Night Councilor has an entire floor to their charge and must meet with the others (if there are) every six years in the Sacntorum in order to deliberate about the status of the Coven in general and decide what should be their next course of action.

These regular reunions are called Chapter Meetings, where every Night Councilor is not only called to inform about the current situation in their respective level and decide their course of action, but its also when their labour must be evaluated by their equals before the maximum authority in the Coven (in this case, Princess Luna) in order to determine wether if they should continue in their posts or be deposed from charge, and processes to select a new Night Councilor should occur.

The election process occurs when a Night Councilor deposes his charge, or is acknowledge by his equals that he is no longer apt to continue his functions. In the last case the decision of the Council must be based upon the proof that it may have gathered, being from citizens' complains to the summary evaluation that demonstrates his negligence, and therefore sustains the deposal petition. The Nightmancer in cycle, or overall ruler of the Coven checks upon these evaluations, and if he decides that they are concise, then he is in complete capacity to depose the Councilor from charge.

Following up, with the Councilor spot vacant, the process of election is begun. Totally it must take a year from the moment of the official vacancy of the post is announced, and in this peculiar process any citizen can partake, since the concept of political parties is prohibited. During the election, the Night Councilors and other administrators must select their own candidates based upon their past services to the Coven and their contributions to their respective communities. In the end its mandatory that the Umbra that had outstanded the most to the highest ranked regent's eyes be interviewed by every Night Councilor personally, who afterwards must cast a ballot approving or not the designation of the candidate. When all Night Councilors have casted their votes, the result is announced publicly, and if the candidate is not elected, then another is taken instead to repeat the same process until a new Night Councilor is elected.

The highest rank of power is occupied by the Nightmancer family members, which take the role of head of state in cycles depending on their age and acknowledgement from the other members of the family. The Allfather, or Elder if there isn't one, still remains the highest authority in the family affairs, and therefore in the administration of the Coven, but as to who the other Night Councilors refer in order to consult matters of estate is the Nightmancer in question. This order is retained as long as the Coven doesn't go to war, when the highest military authority rests with the Allfather, and the designated regent has the responsibility to manage the overall resources distribution and ensure the infrastructural future of the Coven's organization by any means possible.

Despite the general vision about the aristocracy in pony society, and because the Princess of the Night has come to take the role of both Allfather and regent Nightmancer in functions, one can easily forget that the concept of a politician or someone that retains an administrative post in the Coven greatly varies in Noctees society from that of highborn mares and colts from Canterlot. In truth every civil servant in the Coven is characterized by their self-effacement when it comes to matters of wealth. Although the Noctees defend the concept of making of a patrimony, the government doesn't concede special favors to its politic class rather than the rest of its general civilian population.

**The Night Guard**

Umbra's life is something that acts as a distinctive mark as to which degree the Noctees mentality has developed towards their community. The most characteristic individuals of this race conform the elite corps known as the Night Guard, or Shadow Guard depending on the colloquial designation. Because of the uniqueness of their training process, and the distinctive lifestyle in comparison to other races, these highly trained individuals constitute the central force in every Noctees army, and all the more its general population, but in order to start talking about the life of an Umbra inside the Coven, we should address a little theoretical reference.

The codependency between Nightmancers and Umbras has always been a delicate respect in matters of equilibrium. An excessive Nightmancer population would start to overfeed the Umbra's magical auras, rendering the Coven's inhabitants insufficient to be a sustainable community. The other way around, the Coven's resources would rapidly exhaust if they had to feed an overpopulation of Umbras. Wether if there are more NIghtmancers or Umbras, their symbiotic relationship depends on the balance between both breeds in order to benefit both sides. And even if this relation would be in balance, there is still the presence of any danger posted either by environmental conditions or the presence of potential enemies.

So, in spite of every threat to the internal or external equilibrium of the Coven, and the necessity to rely on a multitask force that could answer to any eventuality efficiently, it was the responsibility of the administration to create proficient soldiers as well as citizen role models. This way the militarization absorbed the Noctees culture to the point where even nowadays the effects of such social transformation are still present in the lifestyle of the Umbras.

From the moment of birth, every Umbra is raised to become a Night Guard. Generally, the necessity to give birth is considered as a mean to give the Coven a tool to continue its survival and enforce its will rather than that of starting a family. From cubhood they are schooled by their parents in the basic Noctees values and taught to serve the Coven with their lives until the moment of recruitment, which happens at the age of six.

Hereafter begins the process of basic education of the youngling. The freshcubs are grouped in formations of fifty individuals who will become their new families. Their education is imparted in a straightly pragmatical way, seeking to cover the highest amount of time as possible. This is translated to a full week of studies with a reasonable time for breaks, and even during these the recruits are prompted to partake in activities that seek to develop the values of companionship, healthy competition, fair play, and the physical and mental development of the individual.

The basic education of the Umbras consists on the subjects of logic, basic biology, mathematics, universal history, the Coven's history, geography and chemistry. Within the matter of physical education, the recruit is taught to fight with ranged weapons, melee weapons, hoof-to-hoof combat, aerial maneuverability and ground displacement. These last two are practiced in series of obstacle courses that the recruit must complete within a limit time in order to be considered successfully coursed.

Further in time, when the recruits finish their basic education they are schooled in a more specialized degree, where they learn basic medicine, laws, advanced mathematics, advanced logic, environmental resources exploitation methods, mental stress resistance, and also, though not officially, orientation in meditation and relaxation techniques methods. In more pragmatic subjects, one can find the assignments of survival skills, basic tactical skills, advanced ranged weapons combat, advanced melee weapons combat and advanced hoof-to-hoof combat. Also, they are taught masonry, agricultural techniques, navigation, cattle raising (though the only meat that Equestrian Night Guards are allowed to eat is fish), and series of technical occupations that can easily comprise any functional job in their society, from smithing to Coven's upkeep. There are no disqualified or expelled, and if a recruit doesn't complete the course in a satisfactory rate, although he is severely punished, he's not further reprehended. The Noctees culture, from its warlike ideology, has very rooted the "adapt or die" mentality.

During the whole process of education the recruits doesn't remain with a specific mentor, rotating teachers and even residences in a regular basis. Its intended that this way the cubs have the benefit of the knowledge rather than that of the teaching, reason why this style of schoolling is kept throughout the whole recruit's formation. Their diet is also controlled so its balanced and offers the required amounts of proteins to exploit their maximum development potential. The recruits sleep, eat, work, and, in summary, live together.

Despite the fact that they don't share the same quartering with other platoons for very long, competition between platoons is highly encouraged in means like capture the flag, duel tournaments, king of the hill, and others that seek to strengthen relationship between the recruits as well as platoons in order to create an atmosphere of camaraderie.

This stage of their lives stretches from the moment of recruitment to the age of seventeen, when the youth must undergo a maturity trial where they are to prevail in combat, both physically and mentally, against their elders in order to become grown ups and be fully considered active parts of their society.

The test consist in a confrontation both on the field and individually. In the first one, the younglings are taken away from the Coven and left in the open. Consequently, they are tasked with a mission, very commonly to go from one point to another, but there may be another means to complete the trial, like gathering a series of objects strategically displayed on the terrain, or, in extreme cases, to chase and slay a dangerous creature. During the course of the mission, another enemy unit formed by seasoned volunteers, will be charged to hunt down and neutralize the fresh Night Guard one and prevent them to fulfill their objective in one way or another. Despite the fact that this is a disadvantageous fight, the recruits in question are offered with some handicapped aids, such as maps of the area, food, or tents. Even though these are intended not to cover the full platoon's necessities, are things that in the end make the difference between failing or passing the test.

The elder have permission to use as much force as they want as long as it isn't lethal. Even though they are given advantages, against their superior skilled kin its highly unlikely that the recruits would pass the test without harm, most of them suffering contusions or serious injuries upon competition. Nevertheless, passing or not is not of importance more than the fact of stepping in and face the challenge. The Noctees culture doesn't see the failure as something regretful. As long as it doesn't harm the Coven everyone is destined to charge with their own mistakes.

Despite that its not intended, there are always scarce cases when the hardness of the trial would lead to the decease of a recruit. This may happen by many means, from an environmental contingency to an unintended incident. There are few cases when a cub may have been killed by overuse of force from one of their enemies, but these are even rarer, since incur in this is punishable by death. Anyway, even with the maximum precautions one cannot stop these eventualities to happen, and every now and then some of the unfortunates doesn't make it.

During the second stage of the trial the recruits' wounds are attended in order to make them physically fit for their next challenge. Right after their recovery they are faced against some of their elders in order to duel hoof-to-hoof until someone shows signs of giving up. Any form of contact is allowed as long as it isn't lethal. In this case appealing lies in the honor of the youngling towards his elder as well as his companions, since the way in which he fights will reflect his true nature to his fellows, whom with he will be spending most of his life, so cheap shots are not something that is recursively shown, only being seen during extreme situations.

Again, it is not expected that the recruit triumphs in this pyrrhic battle. The real objective is to demonstrate the level of commitment of the cub to his cause as well as his perseverance and resistance to achieve it. All the recruits that partake are passed, wether if they win or not, carrying in their consciences the result.

Immediately after their graduation, the recently named Night Guards pass to become the military reserve of the Coven, but the new privates doesn't stay inactive during the periods of peace, specially in recent times. Already deployed in companies, these fellow Umbras become the law enforcement and other government services, like builders, farmers, or almost any kind of laborer, cycling between jobs regularly. The contribution to this system's functionality is a combination of the rigid politics of the administration as well as the set of ideologies, beliefs, and historical background that ensures the continuity of this estate of law.

This life stage of the Umbra in which he is provided as a reliable workforce goes from the age of graduation, at seventeen, to the age of twenty-seven, when the Night Guard will be determined by his homonyms that he is ready to begin his new life, and be promoted to the next rank in their ladder.

**The Night Bearers**

The next six years in the life of an Umbra will pass in a new training process, during which the Night Guard will be specialized in any military and occupational branch in which he had shown proficiency or depending on which is needed by the time, like crossbow corps or halberdiers. This is not only part of the Umbra's formation process, but will be instrumental as well in the overall life stage of the Night Guard. During this instruction Night Guards are taught the principles of administration, protocols to follow while outside the Coven, and more schooling about foreigner cultures that they may encounter during their erring.

During this season as well, female Umbras are allowed to give birth to cubs with any mate they'd choose, reason why this lapse is also known as the Mating Season. In this period of time, females are allowed to have up to three cubs (the single cub "chance" is in truth obligatory) or more depending on the Coven's current situation. Differently from what would be though by outsiders, having a cub is in fact a great honor, and is one of the greatest services that an Umbra can give to her Coven and race.

Finishing this process, the Night Guards are considered elite even within their ranks, and are completely trained to perform their duties during times of war, be named logistic, healing, architecture, etc. Officially designated as Night Bearers, these Umbras are allowed to leave the Coven and roam the world, or, in special cases, act as heralds of the Coven or the Noctees race (reason why they are called Night Bearers, since they bring the word of the Noctees).

Even though the companies are intended to go by themselves, not all are released to the exterior at once, since the Coven always keeps a specific number of them in its reserve in case of emergency, rotating them regularly. In case of war, nevertheless, its stated that the Coven must rely on all its Night Bearers in order to defend their home, and all Night Bearers must answer the call wether if they belong to a company or not.

Once outside, Night Bearers companies commonly move together as if they were still an active unit within the walls of their Coven, working as a cohesive organization at any given level. The members of the companies support each other in any aspect, from economic to assistance in times of distress, and, in the worst scenario, with the blades of their swords. Its very difficult to find a Night Bearer left alone or unprotected by his companions.

Its worth to mention that despite their original purpose is to be elite corps, while touring the Night Bearers are not expressively aggressive, and will only return an affront in the same level in which it was produced. Anyone who'd be foolish enough as to aggrieve them would fin himself set against a force that can coordinate their movements in even regional level, being swift, relentless, and overall deadly. This is because even if they find themselves in the open most Umbras live with the same rigor as they would in their Coven, coming from exercises and practices of different protocols, to periodic medical examinations that seek to ensure that the soldier is in perfect condition to accurately respond to any eventuality. This is why in the past landlords used to hire them as mercenaries, since their efficiency to perform a task was almost unrivaled (as well as their hiring bills), and their fame continues to precede them outside of Equestria nowadays.

The Night Bearers that exit the Coven have for purpose to evaluate the conditions of the environment in which they establish, regularly patrol such territory, establish protocols of any eventuality that may happen, practice those protocols, and to gather, as far as possible, intelligence about the local authorities and government installations. The companies, subdivided even in their tiniest units distribute their chores that imply their maintenance while outside the Coven, from patrol duties to general upkeep.

Economically, Night Bearers used to earn money by hiring themselves as freelancers, but since mercenaries are prohibited in Equestria, lately these skilled individuals hire themselves as general workforce. Sometimes, if the company accommodates itself in a populated city, the possibility to establish series of business in order to gain revenue has being recorded, commonly passing the management from one company to another as they rotate their posts.

The Night Bearers, upon establishing in a populate location, have the duty to victual their place of residence such as adding the proper installations to train and further strengthen the defensive capabilities of the building(s). The amount of residences may vary depending on the contextual situation as to choose the number or geographical distribution. In any case, depending on the distribution of the company, we would find at least four squads guarding the perimeter, and, without taking the guard shifts into consideration, another one inside every building.

If a Night Bearer, seeing rare cases, would wish to start a relationship with a member of another species, like marriage, the whole company must endorse his decision and a formal petition must be sent to the Coven's administration. If the situation doesn't requires his immediate disposal, and the Coven's ruler considers that its in order, the Night Bearer is officially released from his obligations. Even though he may not live with his people anymore, other Night Bearers will still take care of their retired companion and accept him and his family as one of their own, and he will be allowed to partake in the activities of his company, being for economical or any other purposes.

**Other stages of Umbra's life**

After this stage of life of the Umbras, which goes from thirty-three to fifty, begins a process that implies the return of the Night Bearer to the Coven in order to become a mentor and share his experiences in the outside with the next generations, and not only that, but they will also be distributed among other managerial posts according on the profession by which they are most favored. In this time as well the staff officers and Coven's governors begin to evaluate the performance of the former Night Bearer in order to ensure their chances of development.

Here's needed to say that unlike the past stages of the life of the Umbra, the promotion of the subject is not as systematized as while in active military service. Some Umbras achieve to successfully be promoted while others may choose to remain in their actual occupations until their moment of retirement. Wether the decision of the individual may be, the citizen always contributes to his community as long as his active life goes.

After the past period, which goes from fifty to seventy years old, the Umbras which have being assessed by their superiors, are chosen to perform a government assignment according to the one that has considered them a good match. This subject selection, which goes successively downwards the chain of command, from the Night Councilors to the Brood Lords, postulates a candidate chosen by the highest rank to the lowest in order to take charge of their functions.

To this the candidates are tested in order to determine their integrity, their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the Coven, and overall that they have the needed requirements to hold the position. The tests are not standardized, but its said that they have remained as tough and demanding as they were in the oldest times of their race. In the end the prospects are not only assessed by their single predecessor, but by all of his equals in order to further determine if the subject is adequate or not.

Right after the process that leads to the formal selection of the candidate is finished, which takes over a year, the administrative in question, along with all of his equals will school their pupils during the next year in order for them to learn whatever there is about the administration of the Coven so that when the past functionaries retire, the next generation will be as competent or even more than the last.

This charge is held by the Umbra from the moment of election until they turn eighty-nine, time after which the Umbra is officially retired from its active life once and for all. From this point on, the Umbra will be able to choose how does he want to live the rest of his natural life, be it wether by secluding himself in a sanctuary or leaving the Coven with a Night Bearer company in order to look for a peaceful and quiet place to pass away. In any case, while still alive, the elders are always looked upon for advise and direction by their younger folk.

Upon death all Umbras are buried without marks, and their tombs are disguised in order to blend with nature. Often their places of burial, or where many Noctees have being buried, are planted with Dutchman's pipes, or Queens of the Night, but this practice is not very constant. There are no specific kind of places to host the dead, since its believed that the last transformation that Noctees undergo is that by which they fuse with nature so that their spirits may go with their goddess.

**The Nightmancer families**

As stated earlier, Nightmancers are the ruling caste of the Noctees, being more magically skilled and long-lived than their Umbra counterpart. They are in charge of the laws and overall administration of the Coven, having the duty to monitor over the development of the polis affairs, independently if they are the regents in function or not. Often because of their homeostatic relationship with the Umbras, Nightmancer families tend to grow with exceptional control, caring not to collect an excessive amount of members that could render their magic supply insufficient (though records state that before the Pony-Noctees war some families used to number over the hundred individuals). For this reason, Nightmancers must oversee the welfare of their subjects, having progress and expansion as an ultimate objective, since the growing rate of the family depends on the exponential grow of the Umbra population, and therefore the Coven's wealth.

Further inside, available records show that the organization of a family varies hugely from the tight structure of the Night Guards. The bods between individuals are more resembling to those of the typical nuclear family, and its rank system is not as standardized as that of the Umbra's, despite some features that remain constant, and is not uniform, having a member the capacity to advance or fall back through their ladder depending on the rest of the family's dispositions.

Newborn cubs must be preferably nurtured by a family member, either anyone who is most closely related, or the one that gave them birth in question, talking if their ancestry is not completely Nightmancerish. This is because a Nightmancer cub takes up to fifteen years to reach a stable pace of growth, time in which he will have to be schooled about Noctees virtues and manners just as any other baby.

Upon reaching a more stable pace of grow, the cub is taught to execute his role in the Noctees society as well as any member of his family. Because Nightmancers age at an extremely slow pace, the schooling of the cubs is imparted not only highly theoretically, but with more than enough room for practical lessons as well. In fact, the degree of commitment to the Coven is so hardly instigated into the young, that it is said that some administrative decisions have been taken by aging cubs undergoing their process of formation rather than adults!

Magic casting and fighting techniques are taught as well. The latter necessarily by a member of the family, and the last by either a relative or the Night Guards themselves. Records show that many Nightmancer cubs used to take special training sessions with recruits of the Night Guard in order for them to learn the orders of battle as well as earn some fighting techniques in the process. As regard for magic, the youngling is taught by every member of the family to polish and develop his basic magic skills, each one intended to strengthen an aspect of his conjuring style save for the advanced spells, which are always taught by the Allfather in private, and, perhaps for security reasons, no record is wrote about them.

Regular competition between young members is encouraged by the elders, being talent shows or straight combat. Sometimes the tournaments include members of other families, but these cases are rare, since relations between families must be very friendly to encourage this stile of competition. These ceremonies are traditionally preceded by the host Coven's Allfather or Elder, who watches from afar the development of the event and determines the outcome impartially. Again, there are no winners or losers, since Noctees society doesn't see failure as an offense (…under most circumstances) to anyone rather than oneself.

When Nightmancers reach full development they are tested by their families in order to be acknowledged as adults. This maturity trial, contrary to that of their Umbra counterpart, is a private ceremony within the walls of the Sanctorum, and its not standardized, but its objective is to test the level of commitment of the Nightmancer to his Coven, his family, and his race in general, seeking to ensure that he will only act in favor of his people. This ritual often involves the entire family, implying that they have the duty to face the aspirant, both mentally and physically, one by one, or all at the same time, in order for the candidate to prove his determination to defend his ideals by facing his own kin. Some fights require that the Nightmancer faces the family members one by one until he has completed all his family tree in ascendant order, and others consist of round after round of matches until either the Nightmancer or the entire family gives up. Whatever the means, when the trial ends the aspirant is now accepted as a member of the family, and has the right to make his voice be heard in the family's affairs before the Allfather, having become now a full member of his community and considered worth to carry his last name.

**Founding of new families**

Despite the fact that its not supposed to happen very often, mating between members of two families almost always is portrayed as a matter of accommodations and convenience. When a Coven's population is starting to exceed its sustainable limits, or its resources are depleting due to other causes, families start to consider the most plausible decision, which often comes in the form of an arranged marriage from one member of their family, wether it be chosen or volunteered, with another family whose situation is not so dire. This applies for political involvements as well, in order to strengthen the relations with another family or to ensure the termination of hostilities. The same goes to the counterpart, who have to asses wether if it would be a wise decision to accept it or not.

In the cases of union due to amorousness, both implicated must get the clearance from their respective Allfathers in order to abandon their Covens and join in marriage. If the Allfathers determine unanimously that the union is in order, then both are released temporary from their duties in order to found an own Coven.

Wether if it be for arrangements or pure affectionateness, if both parts are agreed, the involved are met to decide their Birthing Cycle, and, if the decision of both families stands, the official union is stated at the end of the Noctees year, or the Allmother's Eve (all of which will be explained later), time when the new family is acknowledged by the rest and they are free to choose the last name for their offsprings.

When the union has been acknowledged by the rest of the families, and the marriage has been made official, the implicates must leave their families and start a new life together. Both Covens are compelled to aport resources to the new emerging one in order to ensure the start of the new family with as much accommodations as any other. The Sanctorum and initial chambers are made by Umbra workforces of both parties, who will reside there permanently and become the new Coven's population. The married are bound to have an offspring who will become the Pending Allfather until the cub reaches full maturity. In the meantime, both implicated become the Elders and regents of the city. The cub is schooled by his parents and other members of both families in order to maximize the profit of his education. Upon reaching maturity, the Nightmancer is faced with his parents and a selected set of members of both families in order to pass his maturity trial.

After having become an Allfather and been acknowledged by both families, the Nightmancer is free to act as a regent of his own Coven, and his parents are allowed to leave his Coven and rejoin their respective families, or remain with him and (at least officially) submit to his command.

**Birthing of new Allfathers**

As mentioned earlier, the birthing of new genotypes of Nightmancers out of Umbras is an extremely rare event. Commonly this kind of occasions are taken with extreme caution, since it could mean both the befalling of a future disaster or the beginning of an indecipherable scheme that higher powers had set in motion. Whatever it is, the speculations about the reasons of a sudden birthing of a Nightmancer cub have never been taken lightly.

According to archives, the usual way to deal with this is to put under alert all possible families about the happening, and prepare for any eventuality. So unique is the phenomenon that every time it happens all available Allfathers or representatives reunite in order to interpret the event and decide the course of action as well as what should be done with the newborn Nightmancer. It is believed that this meeting happens in an unknown location rather than a specific Coven, because no record has ever stated it of be in a known place (but considering that the last event of this nature supposedly happened over six thousand years ago, this case is gonna be given the benefit of the doubt). No one knows what happens during this reunion, but after its been held, the cub is given to a family in order to raise him as one of their own.

The cub is raised as any other Nightmancer should, with the particularity that he will be cycling families much like his Umbra counterpart should until he reaches maturity. Its not an official disposition, but it seems that these individuals have a higher expectation than the average, being the founder of new families and future Coven regents when time comes, so many mentors would give them a more specialized schooling than even their own kin.

The maturity trail of new Allfathers happens at the end of the Noctees year, during the last celebrations of The Allmother's Eve, and is a public demonstration. When put through their test, differently from other aspirants, the new Allfather is not faced with the members of a particular family, but all disposable Allfathers instead. Again, the candidate is expected to have an exemplar performance since the preparation to this tests is supposed to be superior to that of a normal Nightmancer, as well as the exam is supposed to be tougher than the average. Many are the tests that the subject must undergo before being acknowledged by all the other Allfathers, and moreover, in this particular case, if the Nightmancer doesn't complete his trial satisfactorily, he is disapproved by the others, and must reassume his training in order to present it again the next year until he is unanimously acknowledged.

After that, and because the Allfather is compelled to make and present his own Birthing Cycle the next year, the Nightmancer is free to choose wether with who he wants to be with in order to further learn and sharpen both his mental and physical abilities until his formal acknowledgement.

**The Machik**

Perhaps more mysterious than the Nightmancers themselves are the whimsical people of the Machik. Just to be clear, even though the information about them is almost non existent, their presence can be traced, at least in paper, into the very bosom of royalty, which is why it was considered in order to add them to the final research paper. Despite the fact that it would be interesting to analyze the structure of the royal family tree and others less noble's, the motion was immediately banned. The idea that just the only mention of the possibility that one of the royal members could have belonged to this discrete brotherhood is such a strong tabu that open threats to take down the research were casted from very powerful circles. So, in spite of the impediment posted by the authorities, this research is just going to address their cultural background.

Originally, they were part of a tradition that was established at the end of the Pony-Noctees war, where the Noctees would receive anyone, independently of their gender or race, who would like to learn their ways in a completely selfless act. Of course that this chance wouldn't be slept by anyone interested in learning the race's secrets, but at all it wasn't an open call, and only those who would truly commit to the Coven and the Noctees would be allowed to join.

The result of those who were accepted to live and be taught by the Nightmancers themselves were called the Machik, which in old Noctees supposedly means "carrier". Griffon legends describe the first generations of Machik like powerful witches and warlocks, everyone of them, even those who didn't had innate magic abilities, capable of performing spells that would be difficult to imitate even by present specialists. According to those, the Nightmancer families would receive them at very young ages, some of them when they were just babies, taking care of the subject's families as well, and successively train them in their occulted ways of conjuration as well as countless subjects more in order that whenever they'd be able to leave the Coven, they would do it with as much knowledge as they could.

Because of their diverse origins, Machiks doesn't have a standard representation, but it is widely accepted that most of them share a number of common characteristics, such as distinctive features in their trappings and other traits that outstand them from the rest of individuals. Its been speculated that they used to have a secret code as well, but to think so would be to deny the fact that most of them come from different Covens, and therefore shouldn't have any direct relation rather than their designation and, perhaps, purpose.

Talking about direction, there has never been stated the purpose of these particular individuals, and their methods of training as well as the details of their organization are a secret that all of them have sworn to take to the grave, a promise that they've all yet fulfilled. Some theorize that they were named in order to serve the Noctees as spokespersons so that they would improve the diplomatic relations with other races and nations; others think that they were intended to execute guerrilla and sabotage actions whenever the Noctees would enter again in war, and the most outlandish believe that they are part of a secret society destined to protect the world from its destruction at the claws of ruinous powers. Whatever it is, from based speculations to the most crazed of conspiracists, the truth is that these fameless individuals have always come and go in the same manner: as if they never had been there.


	5. Beliefs, holidays, and time measurement

**Beliefs**

Noctees have almost as different deities as Nightmancer families there are, each one representing a night in particular, like the patrons or saints in popular culture, but what is always present in every Noctees' pantheon is the presence of a deity named Naqesis, the protector of the Noctees and the goddess of the night itself. She is supposed to guard the Spirit of Shade, which is believed to be the source of Nightmancer's powers.

The exact details to the cult of Naqesis and/or any other patron are shrouded in mystery, and investigations from the actual coven that have pleaded allegiance to the Princesses has just casted poor results, since all Umbras had turned to Alicornism over time. Only the most ancient families have something similar to a record about their past ways of worshiping, and even then its still not formal enough to assume it's accuracy. The only reliable fact that could be extract from passing through endless piles of hoofscripts is that Naqesis, apparently, has a brother, named Eion, who represents the day, protector of the barbaric race of the Valkytes (to learn more about them read "A Comprehensive Guide to Valkyte Society"), and what can be related to be a son or nephew, Baxdur, the eclipse, who is supposed to inherit the world after Eion and Naqesis' demise.

Its not known what is the actual relation that hold these brothers and descendant, neither the myths that portrait it, but amidst the few gathered data about them lies the general view that while Naqesis is a wise and comprehensive goddess, Eion, her brother, is a proud and warring god responsible of watching over something vaguely referred to as the Spirit of Aggression. What resemblance or similarities it may have with the Spirit of Shade are just speculations. Although they may have their differences, both of them are referenced to be opposing parts of an equilibrium, one not having more power than the other in order to preserve the world as we know it. There is where enters their descendant, or "inheritor".

While Naqesis and Eion may be portrayed as opposing, yet, benevolent gods, Baxdur is always alluded in every script with fear and repulse. It is mentioned that he is the guardian of yet another branch of the Noctees, but what people would worship him, or how does they do it is even more fragmentary and unavailable than the few facts that could be found about his uncles. Even his actual gender remains a mystery, though its debated wether if he has one or he is androgynous. The only believable enough fact about him, because is the only one that never varies, is that he is a evil god, with the magical powers of Naqesis and the violent attitude of Eion, willing to overthrow his elders and bring about the end of times that only by the efforts of his two relatives, and, perhaps, peoples, hasn't come yet.

**Noctees and Horsemasterists**

Many are the differences between the two religions as to state them all in a single work. Suffice to say that for a long time, Horsemasterists have seen Noctees as pagans, and in the case of the Ninghtmancers, demons. What of these beliefs survive nowadays in Equestria may be due to the general folklore rather than religious views themselves, because Equestria's official religion is Alicornism, and, besides, other than the Equestrian Coven ponies and Noctees hadn't have almost any contact in the last millennium.

More accurate information can be extracted from the independent nations outside of Equestria, where Horsemasterism is still the predominant religion. Even though superstition is something to be expected on these places, and despite the fact that Equestrians are not welcomed among many foreign communities because of their nations' troubled history, one would be amazed as to what degree their beliefs have evolved into a wide set of understatements about the two religions.

Perhaps this is because we Equestrians have also learned to see Horsemasterists as zealous barbarians, or because the distancing between the two peoples have grown exponentially ever since the founding of Equestria. Whatever the means, what's worth knowing about actual Horsemasterists is that, unlike what we Equestrians think, Horsemasterist have developed to be a more tolerant society in matters of religion than us (even if their warlike tendencies may state otherwise).

In mythology, B'zerke and the two brothers have always shared a relationship of love-hate that has characterized them since their creation, sharing struggles between each other as well as joining forces to defeat a common enemy or a major threat. Its believed that this sentimental bond that joins the three entities is used to explain the relationship between the pony and Noctees kinds throughout history, but since there weren't any Noctees' myths available to exemplify it any further, to what degree the Horsemasterists' reference historical deeds are depicted in their beliefs is only inferred (for further detail of Horsemasterism beliefs read The Chronicles of the Horsemaster).

**Holidays**

Every Nightmancer, and therefore all of his Coven, have two specific festivities. One that happens every year in honor of the goddess, and one every two in honor of their particular patron or saint.

In these occasions, it is common for Noctees to hold a feast which includes the entire Coven, followed by a series of chants and dancing that very often lasts the entire night. The next day is used entirely for resting (and very possibly dealing with hangovers).

There is a night, though, when the festival of Naqesis and that of the Coven's saint come to pass together, which is hold once every hundred and twenty years or so. This religious festivity is called the Allmother's Eve and is the largest of them all. It represents the end of a Nightmancer's Night Cycle and the start of a new Noctees year.

There may be many ways to hold the celebration, due to the particular nature of a patron's followers, but by all reckoning this festivity is always portrayed as a massive party where all the Coven's inhabitants are involved, and when any Nightmancer from other families can come as well, even if their postures are declared as opposites, to be received in a warmth and friendly ambient without such thing as otherwise soured grudges.

By pony terms it wold be like a Noctees version of Hearth's Warming Eve and the Grand Galloping Gala put together, but because of the proliferation of Covens and saints, and the long term view of the Nightmancers, this time of celebration extents an entire year, every different Coven having its particular night to celebrate. To such a special occasion countless supplies stocks that have being saved throughout the century, most commonly inherited by the elderly, are finally taken out of storage and shared with neighbors as a tradition between Umbras, and many gifts are given and received amongst Nightmancers, being them from the same families or not (though, if there is a visiting family it is accustomed that the exchange should happen between the two of them, and not amidst). This time has a political weight as well, for it is known that Allfathers have come to suspend ongoing conflicts or negotiate truces of the entire year of celebration just to reassume them the next.

There are griffin records that explain that ages ago, during this particular festival, the gates of the Covens would be open for any visitor to enter and join the generalized party, and that not only Noctees, but any other race member could join the gifts and supplies exchanges that, as is referred, could feed an entire family for weeks, if he/she wanted to. Moreover, anyone who would present himself in these times, and win the Nightmancers' approval, could actually become a pupil under their tutelage, and learn about their ways (The Machik).

But even though these times used to be about celebrating the spirit of the night, and sharing with the other non-Noctees, sadly, due to recent events, the attendance to these kind of parties have been closed to the general public, as well as almost everything else about Noctees' culture. Although there are always persistent rumors that the music can still be heard from inside the mountains, and that many mysterious baskets with supplies and other stranger items can be found abandoned in river marshes near their foothills by this season.

**The Night Calendar**

In matter of days and time measurement, and because of their magical customs' sophistication, the Noctees manage two kinds of calendars: one to measure the year, or Day Calendar, and one to measure their religious festivities and periods of conjuration, or Night Calendar.

Despite there are some technical differences, the Day Calendar resembles much to the standard pony calendar, with four seasons and the same number of months, but the Night Calendar is far more larger and complex.

Now, it is rephrased again that because of the overall austerity of the Noctees race, and because this sort of time measurement instrument used to belong to the all the more reserved Nightmancers exclusively, the Night Calendar cannot be studied as in detail as it ought to, but either way the data that had being retrieved from Equestria's official sources is at least enough to infer some facts about its actual operation.

There aren't any schemes or tangible proof about how did it used to work to refer to, but many of the oldest Umbra families that had the consideration to give information to this research may state its way of construction and general dynamics.

Parting from the specific night that the Coven honors, which is characterized by a specific arrange of stars and other celestial bodies, the Nightmancers count time until this specific arrange is present in the sky again, which would take at least two standard years, depending on the specificity of the arrange. This time lapse is called a Star Cycle, and is the basic measurement unit in the Night Calendar. Eight Star Cycles form a Moon cycle, for it is believed that every time the Star Cycles coincide with the stages of the moon, the magic of the family would be at its highest.

As a cultural fact, many Umbra families believe that the more complex the arrange of celestial bodies is, the more powerful the magic of the family in question is going to be. This is determined by calculations that every Allfather must do in order to place his first Star Cycle in the correct timing with the celestial body, beginning at the starting point when the Moon Cycle opens in full moon, and the finishing when it closes in new moon. This lapse of time is known as Birthing Cycle, and will determine the further development of the family beliefs as well as, supposedly, the accuracy of their methods of conjuration. An Allfather must first create a Birthing Cycle and demonstrate its accuracy before its let by his fellow Nightmancers to start a family on his own, because nothing would be as disastrous as having a poorly developed Night Calendar as to cast their most advanced and powerful spells out of time. The relationship between the magic crafting and the passing of time is subject to speculation, but by this bias is why an Allfather has only one chance to start his Birthing Cycle at the beginning of the pertinent Night Cycle or during the Allmother's Eve per se in order to be tuned with the other Night Calendars.

Eight Moon Cycles form a Night Cycle, which would be understood as a standard Nightmancer year, meaning that a single Nightmancer's year lasts at least one hundred and twenty eight pony years at least. By this point it is accepted that the celestial bodies that determine the longitude of the Star and Moon Cycles have finished moving in their rounds and thus renewed Nightmancer's magic, having begun a new age for Noctees. During this year in their calendar, it is believed that the Nightmancer and Umbra's powers are at their highest, their magical auras reaching a peak in activity that will only be seen once again during the next Allmother's Eve.

Its not known what actual effects may this season have in Nightmancers, but it has being demonstrated that during this time Umbra's both physical and magical abilities are heavily bolstered, which makes them temporarily far more powerful than their pony counterparts. According to folklore, this happens because during this time Naqesis manifests herself in the world and roams the land. Legend says that if one should stumble upon her in her travels and discover her identity, since she always travels in disguise, she would grant that special being a wish of any kind. There is no limit or rules as to what can be asked from her rather that it should be a single petition, but many advise that one should never ask her about the future, for power, or to uncover veiled secrets, for when it comes to trades of information or requests that may alter the course of nature, the goddess' concessions always come with unexpected twists.


	6. Noctees in war & conclusion

Okay, so this would be the last chapter of this comprehensive guide. To the date, and for the record, I just want to reiterate that this project is going to be used as a headcanon in the rest of my stories, and for you, who had read to this point, if you want to use any element of this work or say what you think in a review feel free to do so. After all why would I submit this work if it weren't to entertain? :D

Any doubt, question, complain that you may have, please let me know.

Sincerely: SIMIOCAOS

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**Noctees in War**

Addressing the Noctees contributions to the field of military science and tactic would take yet another paper for explaining. Not only because of their strategic sophistication, but because their stile of waging war has influenced many other peoples. For example, Griffon military would've never learned the Spear Tip strategy that they usually display in battles if they had never entered in conflict with the Covens north of Equestria, and pegasus troops would never have developed the Cage unit formation if they'd never seen the Night Guards display it before. Too many things can be said about the strategies and formations that the Noctees have inherited, and perhaps the ones that are still to be displayed, to the rest of the world. About the matter Alexius Rommley's Treatise on Military Tactics states that "without the Noctees influence, Equestrian military force wouldn't be the sharp instrument it is now, and its combat proficiency would be very behindhoofed as it concerns this era."

But aside from what the Noctees have given to the rest of the world in matters of war practices, what the Equestrian general describes in his codex that can be said to refer only to Noctees are their warfare tendencies, and that is what is going to be addressed in the following description.

Because of the high maneuverability that their troops can display in matters of movement and rearrangement, and the overall versatility of their formations in ground combat, Noctees tend to use deceit and surprise as their most recurrent tactics. Very often the standard Noctees strategy is to lure away the enemy force unto a set of battle where the odds would play in their favor, or to ambush the enemy army in a series of night attacks (which has proven not only physically devastating to enemies, but psychological as well, since the enemy soldiers find themselves deprived from necessary rest and sleep).

In the air, Noctees strategies are based upon the high capacity of their individuals to modify a battle formation with ease so they can respond to the circumstances with more efficiency, lest to say that in this unstable terrain as are the skies, indirect confrontation and guerrilla warfare are the most recurred tactics by any band. Given the adaptability of the Night Guards, sometimes they use weather to play in their favor as well, for it has being recorded that during battles Nightmancers use to summon cyclones or strong storms in order to disable the maneuver capacity of their opponents so that they can profit of their own.

Assassination and sabotage are two things that Noctees use to implement during a conflict, preferring to damage the infrastructure and chain of command of an enemy to weaken him before open confrontation. This is because, despite Noctees have a surgical precision when it comes to tactics, this advantage tends to play against them as well.

Because their proficiency when it comes to confrontation in open field, the tactic dynamics of the Noctees makes them unsuitable for attrition battles, fortifications assault, and lying siege, three things that Noctees commanders avoid at all costs unless they have a considerable advantage or is absolutely necessary. The mentality of the race has a role to play in this as well, since Noctees consider the prolonged waste of resources as something economically unacceptable. After all why would they beat over and over a target when they can defeat it with a single, decisive, blow?

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In conclusion, Noctees are a species that has proven to be more than that what many would think by simple view. Having an immeasurably long background, and perhaps more secrets than those that now come to the fore, the study of this race has proven that not a single, but several researches will have to be conducted in order to state at some point that we get to understand even the slightest part of their culture. For who knows what awaits beyond the corners of the world, eager to be discovered so we can marble… and terrify.

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Inspiration:

Aer Vis (quoted) - The warrior song

Becoming one of the people - Avatar soundtrack

Engel - Rammstein


End file.
